Bathtubs having an apron or skirt extending from the top of the tub down to the floor at the front of the tub generally require a lateral support system to prevent damage to the apron from inadvertent bumps or kicks to the apron. Historically, braces made from wood, metal or plastic have been screwed, glued and/or otherwise fastened either at the fabricating plant or at the installation site to rigidly reinforce the apron, generally, at the lower edge. Generally, one end of the brace is fastened at the distal end of the apron and the other end of the brace is fastened at the bottom of the tub bowl.
If the braces were installed at the tub manufacturing facility, such tubs were not generally able to be nested within one another to reduce the shipped volume of the articles. As such, shipping costs were unnecessarily high.
Others shipped the brace components as separate parts which were to be field installed. Such field installations can be very time consuming and, thus, labor intensive. Also, such separate parts can easily become irretrievably misplaced, requiring reprocurement of the brace resulting in construction schedule inefficiencies due to such disruptions.
The present invention provides a simple cost-effective bathtub assembly wherein the apron brace is pivotally attached to the tub body to permit the apron brace to be releasably secured at the plant in a first position for shipping in such a manner that the tub assemblies are readily nestable within one another. The apron brace arrives with the tub assembly and is easily snapped into position at installation in a matter of moments.